On 29 March, 3 extra-long trucks will embark from Scania in Södertälje, Sweden, to expostulate in a tighten procession to Rotterdam, a Netherlands. The beginning is being driven by a Netherlands, that now binds a EU Presidency, and aims to fast-track a growth of lorry convoys. These convoys have a intensity for augmenting safety, as good as shortening fuel expenditure and CO dioxide emissions in all long-haulage highway ride operations.

Scania is one of several stakeholders holding partial in a European Truck Platooning Challenge, with impasse from 29 Mar to 6 Apr 2016. The Challenge is a world’s initial cross-border beginning of a kind.

The plan is also upheld by ACEA, a European Automobile Manufacturers Association. The design is to accelerate a growth of convoy-driving corridors within Europe, to boost cross-border cooperation, and to pave a approach for EU legislative changes.

Jonas Hofstedt, Head of Powertrain Development during Scania, says that “the European Truck Platooning Challenge is an glorious event for us to boost recognition in both Sweden and Europe of a vital advantages supposing by car convoys in achieving safer and some-more fit ride operations and in improving trade flows. We also wish to boost bargain of a fact that common standards are compulsory for a opposite support systems, and that corner European legislation is compulsory in sequence to capacitate large-scale procession driving.”
Scania has taken a lead with new concepts for procession driving, building lorry combinations that can expostulate with usually a brief stretch between them, in what is famous as platooning. The initial car in a procession acts as a ‘leader’ that a others follow and adjust to. Over a years, Scania has used platooning in a possess ride operations, demonstrating that by shortening drag it is probable to grasp fuel assets of adult to 10 percent in genuine trade conditions.

Many trucks are currently versed with radar and camera-based systems that capacitate vehicles to say shorts distances to vehicles ahead. With extended communications vehicles in a procession can say a tighten though protected stretch from any other, that can be as small as 10 metres. This is achieved by a use of modernized record in that a vehicles are digitally connected to any other with modernized program controlling a stretch between a vehicles and concurrently requesting a brakes when necessary.

The drivers in a convoys are always obliged for their vehicles’ support systems and can during any time leave a procession or boost a stretch to a car in front if necessary, for instance to assistance other drivers exit on a motorway.

For a leg between Södertälje and Malmö in Sweden, a Scania lorry and trailer combinations will be driven with an additional trailer, holding their sum particular lengths to 32 metres.

“Longer car combinations are something that we’re already contrast on some stretches of highway and with that we are achieving good results,” says Hofstedt. “Adding an additional trailer increases a volume of products in each ride movement, shortening per tonne-kilometre costs by 40 percent and CO dioxide emissions by some-more than one-quarter.”

Scania is also stability to deposit estimable investigate resources in accelerating a introduction of connected heavy-vehicles and associated infrastructure. At a new Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Scania and Ericsson announced a new corner investigate beginning in this area.